Whether brokering multi-million dollar deals, setting the fashion world on fire or creating shows that capture the nation’s imagination, one thing is clear – these 25

New York Latinos have mucho mojo.

ART

Ever since Ballet Hispanico, a school and company that merges Latin moves with traditional ballet, made its debut in 1970, the dance world has never been the same.

“I wanted the general audience to see the beauty of the Hispanic people and their cultures and to embrace us,” says founder Tina Ramirez, an eminence in her own right.

She has been a dancer, choreographer, educator and arts advocate but lately finds most satisfaction as a producer.

“I love the humanity that exists in people, seeing what makes them tick, and helping them to fulfill their vision,” she says.

The Venezuelan-born, Mexican-Puerto Rican artistic director celebrates the common thread that unites Latinos.

“We are comfortable with the rhythm and move easily to the beat,” she says. “Besides, our culture is so rich . . . that we engage in the practice of including others, of taking the best of everything that comes our way and incorporating it into our way of life.”

Ramirez, 79, has certainly brought out the best in her students and has picked up many awards in the process, including one from the Hispanic Heritage Foundation for Art in Education.

“It covered all of those things that I hold dearest,” she says.

– Grace Bastidas

Other power player:

Julian Zugazagoitia, 51, Executive Director, EL Museo del Barrio

HEALTH

Not a day goes by without one of the hospitals that Alan Aviles runs making news – usually, very tragic news. The latest involved 12-year-old Omar Rivera, who went to Kings County Hospital only to be told to take a Benadryl and go home.

The child died a day later, the city’s first victim of the “super bug.”

And despite the heartbreaking news, as president and CEO of New York City’s Health and Hospitals Corporation (HHC), Aviles remains determined to make the 11 public hospitals, four nursing homes and more than 80 community-based health centers work and work well for those who have no other health alternatives.

The 57-year-old PuertorriqueÑo says his goal is to reduce health-care disparities that cut across ethnic and racial lines.

“What we do helps to ensure that those that otherwise wouldn’t have access can receive the health care they need,” says Aviles.

“We served 400,000 uninsured patients last year.” – GB

Other power player:

Dennis Rivera, 50, Executive Director, Local 1199

FASHION

If fashion and art are intimate bedfellows, then the 23-year union of Ruben and Isabel Toledo is a perfect example of what this collaboration can produce.

He’s an illustrator and she’s a fashion designer – together they’re a force to be reckoned with.

“Her talent is precise, sharp, focused and sensitive. She is years ahead of her time, and she is as old as the ancients,” the Cuban-born and New Jersey-raised Ruben says of his 46-year-old wife, who was also born in Cuba and raised in New Jersey.

She in turn describes Ruben as “secretive, magical and inspiring.”

The couple met as teens while they were students at Memorial High School in Union City.

Even with much shared success, both will tell you that finding the other was their greatest achievement.

“Opposites attract and inspire,” attests Ruben.

Lately, the pair has been even more inspired – if that’s possible.

He is finishing the layout of his upcoming book “Fashionation,” while she is currently the creative director at Anne Klein.

“I have brought back a democratic point of view to fashion and focused attention on clothes that will live forever,” says Isabel. – GB

Other power players:

Candy Pratts-Price, 45, Editor in Chief, style.com, (Vogue online)

Oscar de La Renta, 75, Designer

BUSINESS

Carlos Gomez says he was born an entrepreneur. His first business was a bicycle-repair shop he opened in his native Moca, Dominican Republic, at age nine.

“When I was little, my father sat me on his lap and told me ‘You are the architect of your own life; no one can live it for you,'” he remembers.

Today, the 38-year-old is the owner of Union Telecard Alliance, a billion-dollar phone-card business that brings people closer together.

“Through my products, people from all over the world are able to reunite with their loved ones in different languages in a matter of seconds,” he says.

“To me, this is biggest reward I can receive.”

He also gets a lot of satisfaction from giving back. Through the Carlos Gomez Foundation, a self-supported organization, he donated over 10,000 wheelchairs to handicapped people in his native country and provided aid for patients with terminal cancer.

“We help them with their chemotherapy and pain medication,” he says.

He thanks God for his good fortune, an empire that includes several companies in the areas of communications, food and pharmaceuticals and a few real estate ventures, as well.

His most recent acquisitions: Ethnic Foods Corp (also known as Vitarroz) and the nightclub LQ.

“I have a lot of projects,” he agrees, but he says he is especially focused on one in particular right now: “Investing in the tourism of the Dominican Republic,” he says, “and showing the rest of the world the beauty of my country!” – GB

Other power player: Efraim Goldberg, 49, CEO, Movado Group

COMMUNITY

‘I get my caring and compassion from my mother and my moxy from my father,” says Lillian Rodríguez López, 45, president of the Hispanic Federation, a non-profit organization serving over 90 Latino health and human service agencies with a budget of over $200 million.

It’s no surprise then that her parents, who also worked in public service, instilled a sense of community responsibility in their daughter, who’s carried that commitment on through her work.

“The value of the federation is to consistently try to be a voice for Latinos in this region and this country,” she says. “We step in when government and corporate America does not,” tackling everything from immigration issues to HIV-prevention through fund-raising, advocacy and community-assistance programs.

The Bronx-born-and-bred Rodríguez López is especially passionate about education and the need to improve it. As chair of New Yorkers for Smaller Classes, she’s working hard to reduce overcrowding and lessen the number of dropouts each year.

Given the federation’s new address, steps away from the Stock Exchange on Wall Street, it’s clear Rodríguez López is serious about her mission: “People need to understand how important Latinos have been to the success of this country,” she says. – GB

What enterprising reporter David Diaz, 65, started, his two daughters, Nina, 39, and Elena, 30, are following. The Puerto Rico-born, New York-raised Diaz began his career as a community organizer who turned his knowledge of the city into a journalism career. The award-winning broadcaster and distinguished lecturer at CCNY and CUNY Graduate School of Journalism has set the bar high for his daughters.

He told them to “reach for the highest,” says Diaz, “work hard, and treat people the right way.”

The advice paid off. Elena turned her love for music into a career, booking artists for MTV shows and specials, such as “TRL” and the “Video Music Awards.” Nina also made her mark at MTV, as the creator of “Cribs” and “My Super Sweet Sixteen.”

“I always had a fascination for how people live,” says Nina, who is moving to Hollywood to develop new film and TV content.

The Diaz family remain as close as ever.

“I’m most proud of the type of people they are,” says David. – GB

Other power player:

Mario L. Baeza, 55, CEO, V-Me Media

Rossana Rosado, 46, CEO El Diario/La Prensa

Christina Norman, 46, President, MTV and VH1

Nina Tassler, 46, President, CBS Programming

POLITICS

A rumor hit the streets this month: Respected Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrión and mayoral wannabe Comptroller Bill Thompson have sealed a deal to help each other both get elected to citywide office in the next mayoral election.

Carrión, who was expected to make a run for mayor against a gaggle of candidates, including Thompson, will instead run for the seat that Thompson now holds. In an ideal world, both men would find themselves filling the positions they covet.

It would be a win-win for two constituencies not greatly represented in citywide politics – Latinos and African Americans.

Whether it works out or not, one thing is for sure: The 46-year-old lawyer of Puerto Rican descent is ready to lend his creative managerial skills to a much bigger playing field.

Yes, the father of three has been busy with the new Yankee stadium deal. He’s also been trying to make The Bronx the greenest borough in the Big Apple.

And he’s been tirelessly helping to improve conditions for small business owners (the borough ranked among the top ten areas in the country with new businesses opened by women).

But it seems that The Bronx – as huge as it is in the consciousness of the city – is only a stepping stone for further political greatness for one of its most influential native sons. – Sandra Guzman

Other power player: Rep. Jose Serrano, 64, Member of Congress

RESTAURATEURS

Jimmy Rodriguez and his late father borrowed a couple of hundred dollars to start a business selling lobsters and fish on the Major Deegan Expressway in The Bronx.

“Two steel drums, plywood and a scale” were the tools of the trade, recalls the 45-year-old.

He went on to open the legendary Jimmy’s Bronx Café in 1992 and eventually expanded his empire with three other hotspots. Then, in 2004, he closed down everything and mysteriously disappeared.

“Being out of the business for two years, made me realize how much I love it,” he says. That love gave birth in 2006 to Sofrito, a restaurant inspired by the Boricua’s favorite island.

“This time, I wanted it to be a dedication to Puerto Rican culture,” he says, rather than Nuevo Latino cooking.

The eatery has quickly become a haunt for celebs and regular folks who love great food.

His father, who passed away nine years ago, would’ve been proud.

“My dad always said, ‘Keep it simple, keep it real,'” says Rodriguez, who has four kids of his own and admits to finally listening to his old man.

The menu is as simple as it gets, with tasty dishes like mofongo, bacalao, and pernil on offer. “People having dinner want to know if grandma’s in the kitchen,” he laughs.

The reinvigorated impresario is already looking forward to his next challenge: opening Sofritos in other markets all over the country. – GB

‘I take from the rich and give to the poor” is Julio Pabón’s motto. As the founder of Latino Sports Ventures, Inc., a local memorabilia shop and marketing firm that promotes Hispanic peloteros, the 55-year-old Bronx-born Puerto Rican feels an obligation to give back.

One of the events he organizes is a yearly back-to-school fair, including games and a picnic. Each kid walks away with a free backpack full of school supplies.

He also offers discounted and free Internet access to kids in his store.

Pabon’s latest crusade is the Retire 21 movement, a campaign to retire Roberto Clemente’s number. “That’s going to make me feel so good,” says the sports fan, who won’t rest until Major League Baseball does the right thing.- GB

Other power player: Omar Minaya, 49, METS General Manager

PHILANTHROPY

Art collector and philanthropist Carmen Ana Casal de Unanue loves her Puerto Rican artists: Francisco Oller, Jose Campeche, Francisco Rodón . . . The list goes on. Luckily, as the president of the Museo del Barrio’s board of trustees, the born and bred PuertorriqueÑa gets to pass on that love through one of the city’s best Latin art spaces.

Her passion is introducing children to the arts.

“It enriches their lives,” says the 69-year-old grandmother of 18. “We even send artists to the classrooms.”

Along with her husband, Joseph, the former CEO of Goya Foods, Carmen Ana extends a helping hand in more ways than one. Twice a year, the whole clan travels to Honduras to build small water systems in the mountains of Copán.

“We’ve been doing it for six years,” she says. “My children have learned to give and to enjoy every little thing in life. They work every day from 8 a.m. until 4 p.m.”

Closer to home, in New Jersey, the couple opened the Joseph A. Unanue Latino Institute at Seton Hall three years ago and hope to see a surge in the number of Hispanic graduates in science and business. “It’s my dream and my husband’s dream,” she says. – GB

Other power player: Lisa Quiroz, 45, VP Corporate Responsibility, Time

Warner

PROVOCATEURS

Seventy-four-year-old Boricua Rafael Martinez Alequin has been a staple in City Hall for over three decades. And while some may see him as a thorn in Bloomberg’s behind, he describes himself as an advocate for the voiceless.

“I am a proud Puerto Rican,” says Martinez in his heavily accented Spanish. “And I am not afraid to ask the questions on behalf of my community and all communities that are poor. I ask the questions other reporters are afraid to ask,” he says.

And for his provocative ways, Bloomberg banned the blogger from Blue Room pressers.

“I don’t know why I was banned. For 30 years I’ve been covering the city. I was told my press credential expired. And when I applied for a new one, the NYPD denied it. My lawyer, Norman Siegel, is fighting for me,” explains the infamous blogger.

While all this was being sorted out, Martinez says he was suddenly allowed back into City Hall and to the press briefings.

“But Bloomberg has ignored me for seven months. He won’t take my questions.”